Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is raising eyebrows saying he “may” support legalizing pot. Cuccinelli was speaking to Larry Sabato’s political science class at UVA and told the students that he was open to the idea of making marijuana legal.

It may have caught the students at the by surprise, Cuccinelli’s answer came after a student asked what he thought about the drug being made legal in Colorado and Washington.

“I don’t have a problem with states experimenting with this sort of thing I think that’s the role of states,” Cuccinelli said.
Sabato, the well known political analyst, who invited Cuccinelli to speak, couldn’t believe what he had heard.

“Frankly if people hear that whole answer, it may change his image somewhat. It was not stick-in-the-mud, that’s for sure,” said Sabato. “It was suggestive of a willingness to change marijuana policies in Virginia eventually.”

While Cuccinelli holds personal conservative convictions on any number of issues he almost always prefers states to make the final call. Another example? Gay marriage.

In a 2011 interview, Cuccinelli told me he is personally opposed to same-sex marriage, but save for a constitutional amendment, believes it should not be banned by the federal government.

“Frankly, I think it is worth some consideration for the things that aren’t reached by the federal constitution to just leave it to each state,” he said.

So in a race where both candidates are well known, it is clear we still have so much to learn.

House Resolution 499: The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, transfer the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority to regulate marijuana to a newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, require commercial marijuana producers to purchase a permit, and ensure that federal law distinguishes between individuals who grow marijuana for personal use and those involved in commercial sale and distribution.